Tweedy’s Lewisia (Lewisia tweedyi)

Chiwaukum Creek Trail, Wenatchee NF, WA, 5/2017.

The largest member of the Lewisia family grows at low and mid-elevations almost exclusively in the Wenatchee Mountains in central Washington. Frank Tweedy, a botanist with the US Geological Survey stumbled upon this beauty while working with the Northern Pacific Railway in 1882.

Because of its limited range, the plant is considered rare, but we had no trouble finding it, and you can’t miss it in full bloom. Once we noted its peach/apricot coloration, we could spot sizable specimens dotting the rocky well drained south-facing hillsides, amidst the more prevalent bold yellow balsamroot. We rarely found a specimen that wasn’t growing out of a rock.

Chiwaukum Creek Trail, Wenatchee NF, WA, 5/2017.

We counted over 45 flowers in the specimen below, the largest we encountered. This trip was planned for many months, in order to catch these beauties in bloom. Quite a prize for a rainy weekend in Central WA!